Jeffersonville To Host Lectures on Southern Indiana History

The Filson Historical Society of Louisville, along with The Paul Ogle Foundation and the Jeffersonville Carnegie Library Foundation, is sponsoring a series of lectures about events in southern Indiana history. The lectures will focus on how historical events impacted southern Indiana, utilizing artifacts, manuscripts and other items from The Filson’s collections.

These lectures are free and will be held at the Jeffersonville Carnegie Library, 129 E. Court Avenue, Jeffersonville IN:

--Tuesday, March 20 beginning at noon: "The Hannibal of the West: George Rogers Clark and the American Revolution in the West" with Jim Holmberg, the Filson’s curator of special collections. Holmberg will discuss George Rogers Clark’s 1778-79 Illinois campaign. Clark’s success helped secure the United States’ claim to the area north of the Ohio River that eventually became five states, including Indiana.

--Wednesday, April 18 beginning at noon: "The Great River Catastrophe: The Collision of the Steamboats America and United States on the Ohio River in 1868," with Mark V. Wetherington, the Filson’s director. He will examine the collision between the two steamboats and what the disaster tells us about life and death along the Indiana shore of the Ohio River.

--Wednesday, May 16 beginning at noon: "The Hard Dilemma’ of Quaker Pacifists in Civil War America" with A. Glenn Crothers, Filson director of research. Crothers will explore the ways in which Quakers living in the Ohio and Potomac Valleys — the great borderlands between slavery and freedom — responded to the Civil War.

Registration is requested - to register, visit the Upcoming Events section of the Filson Historical Society's website.